Officers were called to the hospital regarding a possible case of public intoxication, he said. While en route, the officers learned the person had assaulted an emergency room staff member, Fleeger said.

When officers arrived, Brune told them she was unhappy with the medical care being provided to her wife, who had been brought in for seizures.

"She said the nurse was rude to her," Fleeger said. "She didn't like the way she and her wife were being treated, and so she punched the nurse in the face."

The nurse suffered facial swelling and redness but was otherwise uninjured, he said.

Typically, such an assault would have been a Class A misdemeanor, but since it involved an emergency room nurse performing her duties, the incident was classed as a felony, Fleeger said.

In an unrelated incident Tuesday morning, another nurse was stabbed in the same emergency room, but his injuries were not considered life-threatening, Fleeger said.

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